No life on Mars | Dark streaks represent flowing sand, not water: NASA

By:News Nation Bureau

|Last Updated:Tuesday, 21 November 2017 01:50 PM

New Delhi:

While scientists all over the world claimed the presence of water on Mars and are gearing up to establish some human colonies on the planet, the latest study led by Arizona scientists has thrown cold water to all those plans.

According to Michael Meyer, the lead scientist for NASA's Mars exploration program, even NASA's latest research on the red planet does not rule out the presence of water.

"It just may not be as exciting as the idea of rivers going down the sides of cliffs," Michael acknowledged further.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter of the American space agency has further provided some images which proved that those lines appear more like dry, steep flows of sand, rather than water trickling downhill, at or near the surface. If water truly exists on the planet it is not sufficient enough to support lives further.

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According to reports, scientists measured 151 of those dark lines at 10 sites while most of them end with slopes between 28 degrees and 35 degrees, a match for active sand dunes on both Mars and Earth.

A thin layer of dust on top that shifts and sometimes brightens the surface might help explain why these streaks seem to occur in the Martian summertime and then disappear, only to reappear the next year.

"If these lines are appeared to be dry, Mars has not had considerable volumes of liquid water," the researchers from the US Geological Survey was quoted as saying.

"I still think that Mars poses a great potential for having had life early on in its history," Meyer was quoted while talking about their findings.

"As long as that's true, we also have a reasonable possibility of life still being on Mars. It just happens to be cryptic or well hidden," he added further.

Dark features on Mars previously considered evidence for subsurface flowing of water are interpreted by new research as granular flows, where grains of sand and dust slip downhill to make dark streaks. Find out more: https://t.co/1sZXN0YAvB pic.twitter.com/NPlebxRVI3

— NASA (@NASA) November 20, 2017

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At present, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has no such rover which will be able to study those steep slopes. Engineers are coming up with fresh new ideas like Martian helicopters or drones to make the study possible anytime soon.

"But going from a clever idea that works in your sandbox to something that goes to Mars takes a fair amount of engineering development," Meyer stated.